What's on Your Mind?

Across the U.S., dozens of proposed solar, wind, and battery projects—encompassing thousands of gigawatts of potential power—are backlogged as they wait to be allowed to plug into the power grid. And, even in areas where renewable energy projects are already online, their output is often heavily curtailed. This clean energy bottleneck stems from the fact that, as demand for renewable energy rises, the U.S. isn’t building new transmission lines fast enough to transport large amounts of clean energy from point A to point B. Now, there’s a company looking to address that problem with a simple yet radical solution: Putting renewable energy into giant batteries and trans…

Visit a celebrity’s Wikipedia page and there’s a good chance you’ll be greeted by a blurry, outdated, or unflattering photo. These images often look like they were snapped in passing at a public event—because, in many cases, they were. The reason? Wikipedia requires all images to be freely available for public use. Since professional photographers typically sell their work, high-quality portraits rarely make it onto the site. That’s bad news for celebrities, for whom this page is often their most-viewed online presence—and therefore the face they present to the world. Some photos are so notoriously bad, they’ve even earned a spot on a dedicated Instagram page. Ent…

For 40 years, Cisco has been best known for building routers, switches, and other networking technology that connects computers within offices, data centers, and across the internet. Cisco’s also a software business, known for its cybersecurity products and familiar applications like the conferencing and communications platform Webex. And last year, the company announced the $28 billion acquisition of big data company Splunk, part of Cisco’s growing role in powering data-driven AI technology. Cisco also last year named Jeetu Patel as executive vice president and chief product officer, with the goal of breaking down barriers within the company as it bets big on provi…

When you think of an electrical outlet, the first thing that likely comes to mind is a simple, rectangular device mounted on the wall—purely functional, often hidden from sight. Architect and designer India Mahdavi has different ideas, though. Working with the high-end electrical brand 22 System, Mahdavi reimagined the outlet as a cheerful pop of color that’s reminiscent of a smiley face. [Photo: Thierry Depagne/22 System] Omer Arbel, co-founder of 22 System and design brand Bocci, asked Mahdavi to bring an unexpected element of joy to this everyday utility by creating a distinct colorway for the existing outlet face—transforming it from a discreet necessity i…

On a remote Polynesian island, an eccentric lottery winner uses his earnings to bring his favorite musicians back together—and they’re also former lovers. What could go wrong? The Ballad of Wallis Island is a new film that tackles this zany scenario; it premiered at Sundance to critical acclaim and will hit movie theaters March 28. This past weekend at the Fast Company Grill at SXSW, editor-in-chief Brendan Vaughan sat down with the film’s cast, writers and director to talk about how they found the right note for their musical rom-com. Panelists included four executive producers who all had additional roles behind and in front of the camera: James Griffiths, the …

One of the wonderful things about watching AppleTV’s Severance is seeing the variety of “employee appreciation events” they throw. Each one worse than the last, but they provide wonderful satire of the flat attempts many companies make to demonstrate to their employees that they are valued. The truth is that employee appreciation is not shown by any event. It turns out that if you want the people who work in an organization to feel appreciated, you need to show that they are respected and valued every day. Managers should not wait for special occasions to say nice things about their employees’ performance. Instead, leaders need to be looking for chances to complim…

MrBeast is currently the most-subscribed YouTuber in the world—but his biggest moneymaker isn’t content. It’s chocolate. The 26-year-old creator, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, owns the snack brand Feastables, which generated $251 million in sales and more than $20 million in profit last year, according to investor documents obtained by Bloomberg. By contrast, his main media business—including his blockbuster YouTube channel and the Amazon Prime reality competition show, Beast Games—brought in similar revenue but lost nearly $80 million over the same period. With 372 million subscribers at the time of writing, MrBeast’s videos range from spending “100 hours i…

If the joy of seeing butterflies seems increasingly rare these days, it isn’t your imagination. From 2000 to 2020, the number of butterflies fell by 22% across the continental United States. That’s 1 in 5 butterflies lost. The findings are from an analysis just published in the journal Science by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Powell Center Status of Butterflies of the United States Working Group, which I am involved in. The endangered Karner blue butterfly has struggled with habitat loss. [Photo: USFWS/Flickr] We found declines in just about every region of the continental U.S. and across almost all butterfly species. Overall, nearly one-third of the 342 but…

Let’s face it: The workplace is pretty much an extrovert’s world, with all those meetings and open work spaces. It’s not always easy for introverts and people who prefer a quieter setting to be at the top of their game, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be productive in an office and have a really successful career. The trick is finding the right job fit. Resume Genius, a website for job seekers, recently released its curated list of introvert-friendly well-paying jobs for 2025. Jobs were ranked based on four factors: autonomy, amount of social interaction, minimum median salary of $48,000 a year, and high job-growth potential. The researchers compiled their results …

This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. Subscribe here. I like thinking on paper. That’s why I’ve got a box under my desk with 27 old idea notebooks. But when I’m looking for a specific note scrawled early in 2020, digital notes are helpfully searchable. Given that paper and digital have distinct advantages, I’ve been experimenting lately with hybrid approaches. Read on for what I’ve found to be most useful. My current notebook of choice: The reMarkable Paper Pro What it is: A specialized paper tablet originating from Oslo, Norway that feels like a cross between a Ki…

Two powerful forces are dramatically reshaping the current world of work—artificial intelligence and an aging workforce. While we can see that the way we work is changing, we need to move quickly to effectively cope with both. Currently, AI, machine learning, digitization, automation, and other technology shifts are continuing to drive big changes in how we work and evolving the skills we need. In fact, new Workday research into the AI skills revolution shows that 81% of workers globally recognize that AI is changing the skills needed for their jobs. At the same time, throughout most countries, midcareer and older workers (people aged 45-64) make up a growing po…

With the advent of generative AI and other advanced technologies like quantum computing, we are entering a period of massive innovation. It is likely we are about to see more future-facing products and services than we witnessed in the past 25 years. These companies will disrupt current industries and change the way we work, live, and play. This creates a new paradigm in how companies identify the best opportunities and how those ideas are developed, branded, and activated. For the past 40 years, I have had a front row seat to some of the world’s most valuable brands’ early days. Lexicon Branding played a role in developing names for hundreds of iconic brands and prod…

In B2B marketing, content syndication has long been a staple for reaching decision makers, filling the sales pipeline, and accelerating leads. But in an increasingly fragmented digital landscape, relying solely on a single channel strategy could mean missing out on other high-impact channels. Today’s buyers are consuming content in new and varying ways—they’re tuning in to podcasts during commutes, streaming their favorite shows via connected TV, and gaining business news from social media platforms. To engage prospects effectively, marketers need to test and expand their digital toolkit with a diversified channel mix that can be anchored in tried and true syndication but…

In today’s fast-paced world, it’s easy to feel that external circumstances dictate our existence. We attribute success and failure to factors beyond our control—the economy, the government, societal expectations, or unforeseen events. But here’s the thing: Blaming externalities diminishes our sense of agency and hinders our growth and fulfillment. The opposite is also true. Choosing personal sovereignty—claiming our power as the ultimate architects of our life experience—leads to a more empowered and authentic existence. The illusion of control From a young age, we are conditioned to seek validation and direction from external sources. Society’s norms, cultura…

Within three months of becoming CEO of the Honest Company in 2023, Carla Vernón slashed 25% of its eco-friendly goods. That seems tame in comparison to what happened when Brad Charron joined Aloha as CEO in 2017: He killed off every product category. Now on the other side of major rebrands and company pivots, these CEOs say there wasn’t necessarily a playbook to follow when they joined their respective companies as outsiders. While assuming the role of turnaround CEO proved difficult—and not one either would like to undertake again—there are many lessons learned, which they shared during a discussion at the Fast Company Grill at SXSW. When Charron was initially ap…

Some “copycat” versions of popular weight-loss drugs will soon be restricted in the U.S. The change comes as a federal judge declined an injunction that would’ve allowed compounding pharmacies to keep making more affordable versions. In a Good Morning America segment, Dr. Tara Narula, ABC News chief medical correspondent, explained how compound-drug creation works to meet demand. “When a drug is in short supply, the FDA allows these compounding pharmacies to essentially create copycat drugs. But when the drug companies say, ‘we are able to meet the demand,’ then those compounding pharmacies can no longer sell those drugs,” Narula said. The U.S. Food and Drug Adm…